Vince Tint

It can open the floodgates of opportunities and improve your rehab center’s census.

OR

It can throw your money down the drain and leave you in the gutter.

In this blog post, you are going to read how you can effectively spread your rehab marketing budget into primary and secondary marketing efforts and get the most out of your marketing campaigns.

There is a reason why rehab owners are willing to sell their left kidney to hire a marketing agency that can consistently generate good leads.

A single rehab patient can bring in upwards of $6,000 to $30,000 for a 30-day treatment program. For 90-day programs, the total average of costs could range anywhere from $12,000 to $60,000.

One word: Lucrative

The addiction rehab industry is worth $35 billion annually, so expect to compete with both the lead generation directories and the national brands.

We’ve heard countless stories of disappointment and poor results from small to medium size treatment centers because their SEO/SEM agency suggested that reverse engineering what the big competitors are doing is the best way to close the gap.

Think about that for a second.

If you are copying your competitor’s techniques, wouldn’t you always be a step or two behind?

The good news? There is a way to stay competitive without breaking your bank.

Budget smarter and avoid doing exactly what the big brands are doing.

Simple, right?

Here’s what you need to remember.

Rehab marketing is not about how many branded engagements, website visitors, or phone calls you can buy.

Rehab marketing is about how long you can extend each of these branded engagements, website visitors, or phone calls.

Let me say it again.

“Rehab marketing should be about how long you can prolong each customer experience or journey.”

For example, if you don’t have a system in place to follow-up on those leads that wasn’t ready to commit or didn’t have the right type of insurance, or a website visit that did not convert, you are wasting your budget.

It is extremely frustrating when marketing departments work so hard and put so much into the campaigns but efforts are wasted because of few simple things you fail to do.

Now I’m not saying these few simple things will turn a failing marketing campaign around, but you’ll be surprised at just how much better your marketing campaigns perform if you engage in long-term customer journey tracking and marketing.

Put a follow-up system in place first and thank us later.

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

Google’s dictionary of this proverb is “Don’t risk everything on the success of one venture.”

Similarly, if you are working with a limited marketing budget, you shouldn’t risk everything on just one marketing method.

Of course, the rules of this allocation are not written in stone and you can tweak your budget according to your preference and observations, but the above pointers must be seen from the perspective of integrated marketing for a small or medium-sized rehab center.

Referral Networking & Marketing

A smart rehab center invests in building relationships with strategic partners and relies on them to grow its census organically. In an industry that once relied heavily on incentivizing referrals, a true organic referral from a strategic partner may sound like a pipe dream.

But wait.

In an industry dominated by big brands and high budget lead aggregator directories, doing exactly the opposite of what these big shots are doing seems like the only logical and smart thing to do.

Don’t you agree?

When people are looking for treatment help – for themselves or for their loved ones – rest assure they would rather trust someone who has had a direct experience with a rehab center than an ad they come across on TV, online, or in a print ad.

This is why we suggest that you allocate the biggest chunk of your budget on building your professional referral network and on B2B word-of-mouth marketing.

You can build your referral network through the following people:

Your former alumni who successfully graduated

Friends and relatives of patients who have had good experiences at your rehab center

Other rehab centers who would like to refer patients when they cannot accommodate them

Physicians or doctors

Nonprofit organizations raising awareness against drug addiction

Lawyers and firms who work with local law enforcement

Final Thoughts

To be frank, budgeting is difficult.

Something that works great for rehab center A may give mediocre results for rehab center B.

A small to medium size rehab center may not have the budget to compete against the national brands but they can build sustainable growth by establishing a long-term connection with other local drug addiction centers, health professionals, or former patients.

But this blog post is less about promoting a new type of marketing such as organic referral marketing and more about stressing on the point that you should avoid spending all your marketing budget on a single marketing channel.

BEGINNERS GUIDE TO

ADDICTION MARKETING

Vince Tint is a seasoned digital consultant and a passionate SEO expert.
Starting his career with a background in marketing and quickly learning the art of Digital Marketing, Vince Tint helped grow one of the biggest Addiction Rehab brands in the United States.

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